Xiaolin Showdown: Battle of the Blades
by yinyangrobot
Summary: Charlotte Spicer goes undercover to the Xiaolin Temple for her brother Jack, and finds herself caught in the battle for world domination. Rated 'T' for occasional language.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Midnight. The air was still and the sky was painted a deep velvety black, peppered here and there with twinkling stars. Everything was quiet, save for the blaring of heavy rock music from the basement window of a white two-storied house, all alone at the end of a silent street.

In the basement, Jack Spicer slammed his screwdriver against the metal table he was standing in front of and groaned loudly. "I can't figure this out!" He glared at his current work-in-progress lying across the table: a currently inactive android, the most recent in a series that had either not worked, short-circuited, or tried to kill him once they were powered up.

"What's your problem?" A hovering, purple figure with large yellow eyes popped up behind him, her voice raspy.

Jack shrieked, whipping around and waving the screwdriver at the figure. When he realized who it was, he let out a breath and lowered his hand. "Stop doing that, Wuya! I hate when you just materialize out of nowhere!"

"I can't exactly make footsteps for you to hear, Jack," Wuya replied, zipping around the room, leaving a ghostly purple trail behind her as if to reiterate the fact that she was nothing more than a vapor with a face.

"Yeah, yeah." Jack turned back to his robot and smacked it with his hand. "I can't figure out what was wrong with all of those other androids I tried to build. I built this one the exact same way, and I've checked everything to see if there was some sort of hardware malfunction, but everything is perfect." He tapped the screwdriver against his chin and thought a moment. "Maybe it's something with the programming."

Suddenly the house alarm system rang out. Someone had opened the front door.

Jack cried out and cowered under the table. His mother was away on a business trip until the end of the week, and his father was still in Hong Kong for his business trip. Jack was supposed to be home alone until his mom came back home, meaning that whoever had just come through that door wasn't supposed to be there.

"_JACK!_ You have Shen Gong Wu! Use it!" Wuya yelled.

"Oh… right."

Jack hurriedly grabbed the Fist of Tebigong – a heavy bronze fist-shaped glove - and summoned two of his Jackbots to follow him as he headed up the basement steps. "Jackbots, attack!" he cried, throwing open the basement door. His brass robots flew through the door and headed for the living room, their small arms outstretched, their sharp claws ready to pounce.

Jack ran behind them, slipping the Shen Gong Wu onto his hand. Before he had a chance to look up and intimidate the intruder with a glare before activating the Fist of Tebigong, he slammed right into the backside of one of his Jackbots.

"What was that about?" he cried, rubbing his head. Looking up, he saw the reason.

A teenage girl stood in the center of the living room, smirking at him. She wore a baby blue hoodie, a denim skirt, black and white striped leggings, and black combat boots. A rainbow-printed backpack was slung across one shoulder. Her auburn hair fell just past her shoulders, and her bangs were trimmed so they grazed across the long eyelashes that framed her red eyes, the same color as Jacks.

"Hi Jackie!" she cried, tossing her backpack at him. "Since when did we get an alarm? And what's that thing on your hand?"

"What are you doing here?" Jack responded, standing up and dropping the bag on the floor. "You're supposed to be in Hong Kong with Dad. And don't call me Jackie, I hate that." He headed for the security pad and punched in the code, silencing the alarm.

She shrugged. "He decided it would be best to send me back home to be with people my own age rather than just him and his coworkers from the office." The girl walked over to one of the Jackbots and knocked on its head. "You got your toys to work since the last time I saw you, Jackie."

"They're not toys, they're my Jackbots." Jack smacked her hand away from his robot and ushered them back toward the basement door. "They're dangerous and deadly machines, and I've trained them to attack on command. Unfortunately Mom made me program them not to attack family, which is the only reason you weren't obliterated back there."

"Uh-huh." She seemed bored listening to Jack. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Business trip, like always." Jack followed his robots back to the basement. "Go upstairs and unpack or something. Don't bother me." With that, he slammed the door behind him.

"Who was that?" Wuya asked, floating out of the shadows.

"Charlie. Er, Charlotte. My sister. My dad took her on his trip to Hong Kong but apparently got sick of her and sent her back here." Jack picked up his screwdriver and stared at his android again. "She won't get in our way though, don't wor-."

The basement door flew open before he could finish his sentence. Charlotte – Charlie – stood at the top of the steps, looking around at all of Jacks machinery, computers and giant computer screens, and tools, before finally resting her eyes on the evil Heylin ghost witch floating mid-air beside her brother.

"What is _that_?!"

"That's it. I'm getting a lock for this door." Jack crossed his arms over his chest and glared up at his sister. "I told you not to bother me, Charlotte!"

Ignoring him, Charlie headed down the stairs without taking her eyes off of Wuya. "This is some sort of illusion or parlor trick, right?"

"I most certainly am not a parlor trick!" Wuya snapped, her face contorting with flared anger.

"Charlie, Wuya. Wuya, Charlie. Now can I get back to work?" Jack gestured back to the android on his worktable.

"Wuya, huh?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. "So what, are you like… haunting my brother? Did he kill you when you were alive and this is his punishment?"

"Don't be ridiculous, child," Wuya hissed. "Jack isn't competent enough to kill someone, except maybe himself with one of his stupid inventions."

Jack took a deep breath to prepare himself for the explanation. "Wuya is an ancient Heylin witch who 1500 years ago was trapped in a puzzle box by a Xiaolin master and then Dad found the box in Hong Kong and sent it to me and when I opened it she popped out and she's helping me try to take over the world now by tracking down Shen Gong Wu which are ancient objects that have magical powers but a group of Xiaolin monks are trying to get them too."

Charlie blinked. "She was in that silly old box Dad sent you?"

"Yes." Jack slipped his yellow goggles down over his eyes and began working. _I hope she quits bugging me soon_, he thought.

* * *

A week later, Charlie still hadn't quit bugging Jack.

"C'mon, Jackie, I'm _boooooored_," Charlie groaned, twirling around in Jacks computer chair down in the basement. Jack had learned to ignore her pretty well while he was working, but sometimes she really grated on his nerves.

"What do you expect me to do about it? I'm busy here," he snapped. He was busy doing repairs on his Jackbots, all of which kept mysteriously malfunctioning. Wuya watched, occasionally glaring at Charlie when she groaned too loudly.

"Can we at least go out for dinner tonight or something?" Charlie began pressing random buttons on the computer keyboard. "If I have to stare at these walls for much longer then I'm going to go crazy."

Jack reached into his pocket, pulled out a few bills, and tossed them at her. "Here, knock yourself out at the mall food court."

Charlie groaned, but shoved the money in her pants pocket anyway. "Hong Kong was a lot more fun than this," she grumbled.

Halfway up the stairs, she heard Jack pat the top of the Jackbot he was working on. "There, all done. I hope I fixed whatever kept breaking in you."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that."

"What?!" Jack whirled around, heading for the bottom of the staircase. "Did you do something to my Jackbots?"

Charlie shrugged. "I was bored and you were busy plotting with that ghost of yours, so I thought I'd tinker around with your robots. Turns out it's a lot different than trying to fix an MP3 player."

"_YOU ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!_" Jack shouted, balling his hands into fists at his sides. "You constantly annoy me, you change the television station when I'm trying to watch something, and now you're _breaking my robots_?!"

"I can't help it Jack, I don't have anything to do here!" Charlie waved her arms. "Dad's gone, Mom was home for like _a day_ and then left for another business trip, my friends are away either for summer camp or vacation… _You_ are my entertainment right now." She pouted slightly. "You're my big brother, Jackie. You're supposed to take care of me."

"Oh she's good," Wuya commented.

Sighing, Jack rubbed his face with his hands. "Okay, you really want something to do?"

"Yes please!" Charlie instantly perked up and bounded down the stairs.

Jack led her over to his map, spread out across a lit table in the center of the basement. On one side was a small replica of their house; on the other, a tiny model of a martial arts temple. Plastic trees and villages were scattered in between them.

"See that building over there?" Jack asked, pointing at the temple model. Charlie nodded. "That's the Xiaolin Temple. It's where the loser monks who try and take the Shen Gong Wu from me – uh -" he smiled at Wuya, who was glaring at him with her wispy tentacles crossed "- I mean us - stay and train and all that junk."

"So?"

"Sooo… I've been working on a plan to take them out of the picture, but in order to do that I'll need someone on the inside to feed me information. Things like their weaknesses, when the temple and their Shen Gong Wu vault are at their most vulnerable, and all of that." He draped an arm over his sister's shoulders. "But _I_ can't do it, because they wouldn't believe me if I told them I wanted to join their side."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking, Jack?" Wuya asked, hovering somewhere above a clump of miniature trees.

"Yes… I think." Jack paused, thinking over what Wuya had said.

"You want to send me off so I can spy on people for you?" Charlie asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Jack shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much." He grabbed Charlie's arms. "It's a brilliant idea, Charlie! They don't know who you are or what you look like. They don't even know I have a sister! It's a good thing I don't admit to being related to you. Just show up at the temple, lie about your name, and you're as good as a monk!"

She stared at the tiny Xiaolin Temple for a few minutes. "What do I get out of it?"

"I'll give you Australia and the United Kingdom when I take over the world."

"Throw in Cuba and you've got yourself a deal."

They shook on it, with Wuya grinning in the background.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Charlie stood in the archway leading into the Xiaolin Temple, surveying the area. _What did I get myself into? _she thought.

The temple sat on a hillside, surrounded by walls for privacy and security, with tall mountains behind it. The buildings were off-white with blue shingled roofs and large doorways, all painted either blue or red. Topiary and perfectly trimmed bushes lined the walls, and water cascaded down a small stone fountain in the center of a stone-tiled clearing.

Charlie adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and took a deep breath. Jack had told her what to say, and really drove it in that she was supposed to lie about her last name. "If they know you're a Spicer then the whole thing is a bust and I'll have to come up with a new plan," he told her, placing a cell phone in the pocket of her backpack. "Use this to talk to me. Only text messages, unless it's an emergency, so that they don't hear you. I've put a special chip in the phone to keep it secure, just in case, and it's password-protected so not just anybody can pick it up and go through it. Just to be on the safe side, keep it hidden as much as possible."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it Jackie." Charlie zipped up the pocket with the phone and shoved the last of her clothes and toiletries into the bag.

"Send me a text tonight to let me know you got in okay."

"Jack, you're starting to sound like a concerned parent." Charlie rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine." She saw the look he gave her, full of anxiousness and something else that could easily have been eagerness to get his plan rolling or nervousness that Charlie would screw it up for him. She sighed. "But I'll shoot you a text when I get in. Promise."

And now she stood at the temple, watching a group of elderly monks in white robes meditate around the fountain. _These are the kind of people that has Jack so scared?_

Charlie could practically visualize her brother screaming back with, "I'm not scared of anybody!" She scoffed back at the voice in her head.

"Can I help you?"

Charlie turned toward the voice coming from behind her, and saw a tall older man heading her way with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore robes similar to the ones that the meditating monks were wearing, though his were topped with a blue vest. He was completely bald, but had a black moustache and beard that were both streaked with grey.

"Uh, yeah. I'm looking for Master… Fung," Charlie answered, recalling just at the last minute the name of the Xiaolin master that lead this temple. Jack made sure to teach her not only his name, but the names of the four monks who kept trying to take the Shen Gong Wu.

"I am Master Fung. And you are?"

"Charlotte Sp- uh… Spudgenheimer." She cursed herself silently for almost giving away her last name, but at the same time praised herself for coming up with an alias – however crazy it sounded – off the top of her head. "It's, um… it's Dutch."

Master Fung nodded, as if he heard stupid last names every day. "And what can I do to help you, Charlotte Spudgenheimer?"

_Showtime._ "I heard about this temple and wanted to come here to train and learn the ways of the Xiaolin monks," Charlie recited.

"Have you had any prior training in another other temple?"

"No sir, I haven't. It would be a great honor if you let this Xiaolin temple be my first." Charlie bowed slightly. _Boy, I'm really laying it on thick._

But Master Fung didn't seem to think so. He stroked his beard, appearing to really consider Charlie's proposition. "Come with me." Without waiting to see if she would actually follow him or not, Master Fung turned on his heel and headed back the way he had come. Raising an eyebrow, Charlie followed Master Fung to the other side of one of the temple buildings.

About twenty wooden poles, of various heights, were stuck in a small grassy clearing. Other poles were resting against a nearby wall. In the background, Charlie could see hoops, sand bags, brick walls, and even a few hanging blades. _This must be where they train._

Master Fung picked up a pole that had been casually thrown on the ground by the wall and tossed it to Charlie, who caught it easily with both hands. "Good, good. Your hand-eye coordination seems to be working." He then pointed at the poles sticking out of the ground. "Now let's see what you can do there, Charlotte."

Charlie looked at the poles. "Excuse me?"

"I want you to traverse through the training area while carrying this pole, keeping it from touching the ground." He nodded at the one she was holding. "You are allowed to take as much time as you need."

_Well crap._ Jack hadn't warned her about any possible tests to become a monk-in-training. The way he talked about it, it seemed like all she had to do was show up and she'd be granted a spot in the temple. But a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

Charlie took a deep breath and climbed onto the shortest pole. It was too narrow for her to be able to stand on both feet; she picked up her left foot, keeping her right one planted on the pole, and used the pole she was holding to help keep her balance. She felt like one of those circus performers on the high wire, using a parasol for balance.

Looking at the next pole she was supposed to get to, she realized she had no idea how to actually get there. It was only a couple of inches higher than the one she was currently standing on, but those couple of inches were the equivalent of two miles when the leg she was standing on was beginning to grow numb.

"Am I supposed to jump or something?" she asked, looking over at Master Fung, who just shrugged and tucked his hands into the sleeves of the opposite arm.

_Oh great. He's suddenly mute._ Charlie grumbled to herself, trying really hard not to respond to the wobbling in her right leg. How was anyone supposed to do this?

Charlie stretched out her left leg toward the second pole, but found it was just a few inches too short. She let out a puff of air, sending her bangs flying before settling back down on her forehead. Sweat began to form on her temples and on the back of her knees. Her right leg continued to wobble, so she decided to switch to balancing on her left leg. Carefully, she set her left foot down and attempted to inch her right foot off while remaining on her left leg. It was just like an Indiana Jones movie, where he carefully swapped a heavy bag for the gold statue to keep the pedestal from signaling the giant boulder to come and crush him.

But Charlie wasn't quite as swift as Indy. In a matter of seconds, she felt her right leg buckle, sending her crashing down onto the ground, still holding the pole in her hands as she landed on her back.

Her eyes slammed shut and her teeth gritted, Charlie laid there grasping the pole. _He's going to turn me down_, she thought. _I'll have to admit to Jack that I failed. He'll hate me for ruining his plan and he'll rub it in my face that I screwed up for the rest of my life._

But when a few moments had passed and Master Fung hadn't laughed her out of the temple, she cautiously opened one eye. He stood on the side, same place as before, watching her. _Am I still being tested? But I failed. He said…_

_ Wait!_

"'Traverse through the training area'!" Charlie cried, repeating what Master Fung had said. He never said specifically that she had to go across the poles. He only said she had to make it through the area while keeping the pole from touching the ground.

Grinning at her revelation, Charlie jumped up then proudly (yet trying not to appear _too_ cocky) made her way through the training area, weaving between poles and holding her own up in the air to keep it from touching the grass. She may as well have been holding the Olympic Torch with the amount of pride flowing between her and the pole. Within seconds she was on the other side, standing in front of the Xiaolin master.

Master Fung looked at her. _Uh-oh. Did I get it wrong? _Charlie slowly lowered the pole and looked back at him, a sense of dread washing over her.

After a few moments of eye contact, Master Fung nodded. "You not only made it across the training area and followed my directions, but you really listened to what the directions were. You found ways to follow them without doing the obvious. During quests as a Xiaolin monk-in-training, objectives like the one presented to you may pop up, and it is important to -."

"So I got in? I'm a monk-in-training?" Charlie interrupted, ecstatic.

Master Fung nodded again, giving her a small smile. "Consider yourself training to be a monk-in-training. You will not officially be recognized as a monk-in-training until after a short period which will require both physical and mental training to see if you truly have what it takes."

"_YES!_" Charlie was so excited that she threw the pole in her hand across the training ground. It landed with a clatter against one of the building walls. "Oops."

"Come, Charlotte. You should get settled in." Again, Master Fung took off toward another building, leaving Charlie to follow after him. For being an old man, he was a surprisingly fast walker.

She followed him into a building that appeared to serve as the dormitories for the temple. Paper walls and thin sliding doors were set up across from one another down a hallway to separate each 'room,' which only contained a thin mattress on the floor.

Master Fung led her to one of these stall-rooms toward the back. "This is where you will stay while you are training here, Charlotte. All of your belongings must stay in this area during training period and chores."

_Ew, chores._ "Yes sir, Master Fung."

"The rest of the day is yours to become acquainted with the rest of the monks and the temple grounds. Tomorrow begins your training." Master Fung bowed slightly at her, then left the building.

Charlie entered her room and slid the door shut behind her. She unzipped the pocket of her backpack and pulled out the cell phone Jack had slipped her, keeping her ears open the whole time in case someone came in and she needed to stash it away. She quietly entered the password Jack had given her, then opened up a new text message.

Typing out her message, Charlie felt a sense of accomplishment. Not only had she gotten into the Xiaolin Temple, but she knew it was something that not even her loser brother Jack could get away with. Smiling, she hit the 'Send' button and reread her text.

"_I'm in."_


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Charlie had been unpacking her backpack, trying to get used to the idea of calling this so-called 'room' home, when she heard voices enter the dormitory building. She very quietly slid open her door and peeked out.

There were four monks, all in red robes with blue sashes, walking around and talking to each other. Three appeared to be around her age, but one seemed younger. This one was much shorter than the rest, with a perfectly round, bald head. _That must be Omi_, Charlie thought, remembering what Jack had told her about the Xiaolin Dragons-in-training who took the Shen Gong Wu from him. _"Omi is the little cheeseball,"_ he'd told her. _"He's a bit egotistical, and a control-freak. Doesn't like handing over control to any of the others unless he really can't help it."_

The tallest boy had shaggy blonde hair hidden under a cowboy hat – _Really? In China? Okay._ He was broader than the rest of them, and when he spoke he had a very distinct southern accent. _"And then there's Clay," _Jack had said, continuing with his lesson. _"He's the big one, kind of slow. Eats a lot and always wears a cowboy hat. If you touch it he'll probably kill you."_

The third boy had slightly darker skin and messy brown hair. The first thing he did upon entering the building was flop down on the floor and lay there, complaining about how tiring training was and how he just wanted to sleep_. "Raimundo's a loud-mouth, that's really all to know about him. Once he joined up with Wuya but he changed his mind and went back to the Xiaolin Temple. So I guess he's not too bright either."_

There was a girl there, too. She was a little taller than Omi, with flawless milky skin and baby blue eyes. Her jet black hair was pulled into two high pigtails that swayed while she walked around, tapping out something on her cell phone. _"And there's a girl, Kimiko. Crazy dresser, obsessed with technology, bickers with Raimundo constantly. I think she's in love with me."_

_ Pfft, yeah right, 'in love with Jack', _Charlie thought before taking a deep breath and opening her door all the way. "I guess it's now or never," she mumbled, and headed out toward the group. She had to make friends with these people in order to find the information that her brother wanted. May as well start being nice now.

"Hi!" she called out cheerfully, waving a hand as she approached them.

The four monks looked at her, confused. She couldn't really blame them. She doubted that some random girl walked out their rooms every day.

"Uh, hi," Raimundo responded, waving back. "Who are you?"

"I'm Charlotte, but you can call me Charlie. I'm a new monk-in-training here… in training."

"That's odd. Master Fung didn't say anything about recruiting a new trainee," Kimiko spoke up, lowering her cell phone.

"I'm kind of brand new." Charlie laughed and shrugged. She hoped it wasn't too odd for the temple to take on new monks-in-training.

Omi stepped up to her and bowed, easing the nervous tension Charlie felt in her neck. "Well let me be the first to welcome you to the temple, Charlie… uh… what was your last name?"

"Spudgenheimer." Charlie blushed. She just _had_ to come up with the stupidest name ever. Hopefully no one else will ask her for it.

The four stared at her, then burst out laughing. Charlie pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Gee, thanks for the warm welcome," she said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry Charlie," Clay apologized. He wiped away some tears from laughing so hard. "I'm Clay, and that's Kimiko, Raimundo, and Omi." He pointed at each one in turn, and they all either nodded or waved when their name was called.

"Nice to meet you all," she replied, smiling.

"Did Master Fung give you your robes yet?" Kimiko asked, noticing that Charlie was still wearing her hoodie and denim skirt.

"Robes? Uh, no, he didn't."

Kimiko headed to a bureau on the other side of the dorm building and dug around in the drawers for a minute. She came up with a set of girls' robes like the ones she wore; a red tunic, white leggings, and black shoes with laces that went up to the knee. The only difference was the sash, which was black instead of the royal blue she and the boys wore. Charlie guessed the different colors were meant to symbolize different rank levels within the temple.

"Thanks." Charlie took the pile of clothes from Kimiko and went back into her room to change. She emerged a few minutes later decked out in her new robes, save for the shoes, which she held in her hand.

"I don't really like these," she told Kimiko, handing them back to her. "I'd much rather just go barefoot." She wiggled her toes happily as if to emphasize her point.

Kimiko shrugged. "Whatever. If Master Fung has a problem with it then he'll tell you. Doesn't bother me though." She tossed the shoes back into the bureau and closed the drawers.

"So where do you come from, Charlie Spudgenheimer?" Raimundo asked her as she sat down on a cushion beside him, a cheeky grin on his face. He seemed to take so much amusement in how silly her last name was.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "I'm from Canada," she lied, and began weaving a fake back-story about her rich but neglectful parents and how she and her brothers and sisters – of which she was the youngest – were all raised by nannies. One day, after reading about the Xiaolin Temple, she decided she wanted to become a Xiaolin monk and break away from the oppression she felt at home. _Man, I am good!_ she thought when she finished telling her story.

"Well, I hope you're ready for some intense training," Raimundo told her, nudging her with his elbow. "Master Fung doesn't play."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Charlie really understood what Raimundo had meant. She had done nothing over the last several days but training and chores, with little time to actually talk with her new fellow monks and learn anything that could be of importance to her brother. Every night he would text her _"Anything yet?"_ And each time she would reply back with a very curt _"No,"_ before passing out.

Master Fung finally gave the monks a day off after finishing their morning chores, to which all five of them cheered then went outside and gathered underneath a tree.

Kimiko was sitting up against the tree, surfing the internet on her cell phone; Raimundo was off to the side practicing some soccer kicks; Clay was reading a comic book; Omi was busy preparing some kick techniques; and Charlie was just laying on the grass, enjoying being outside for something other than "jump through the fiery hoop" training.

"Omi, we have the afternoon off," Kimiko finally said, watching Omi practice a roundhouse kick for the tenth time. "That means no training required."

"But evil never takes an afternoon off, Kimiko!" Omi replied, karate chopping the air in front of her.

"You sound like you belong in a James Bond movie," Charlie snorted, suppressing laughter.

"A _who_ movie?"

"Nevermind." It wasn't worth trying to explain James Bond to Omi, who stood scratching his head in Charlie's direction.

"Hey, look over there!" Clay sat up and pointed across the clearing to the temple, and everyone followed his gaze.

Master Fung was walking into one of the temple buildings, but he wasn't alone. A girl with fiery red hair was beside him, and the two seemed deep in conversation.

"Who d'you suppose that could be?" Clay asked.

"Beats me." Raimundo shrugged.

"Well I'm sure if it's something important, Master Fung will tell us," Kimiko said, and the group went back to their individual activities, occasionally glancing over to try and catch a glimpse of Master Fung and the strange girl again.

After a few more hours of relaxing and chatting, Charlie learned that Kimiko had started talking to this guy she knew back in Tokyo and things were going really well, Raimundo had never had cheesecake, and Clay had been a champion bull rider before coming to the temple. Not much to report back to Jack. Omi did reveal that he had a weak left ankle, however, and Charlie mentally filed it away, reminding herself to let her brother know about it that night.

The monks filed into the dining area for supper – tonight it was rice with a small side of steamed vegetables, _yum_ – and began eating, continuing their conversation from outside.

"So Charles, Master Fung said that the next time a Shen Gong Wu activates, you can come with us to find it," Raimundo told Charlie, beaming as he hid a stalk of broccoli in a nearby vase. He loved calling her Charles; at first it really irritated her but after a while she grew to kind of like it.

"Awesome!" Charlie had learned all about the Shen Gong Wu during her training at the temple, though she of course knew about it from Jack even before that. The one thing she hadn't been allowed to do yet was to go into the Shen Gong Wu vault, or even know where it was; Master Fung said that until she became an official monk-in-training secrets that like "couldn't be divulged." "Any idea when one might activate?"

"Depends on when Dojo senses one," Clay said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to where a tiny green dragon was wrapped around the base of a bonsai tree in the corner, snoozing. Dojo had originally buried all the Shen Gong Wu 1500 years before, and when each would activate it would point him in the right direction.

Charlie was taught that "Jack Spicer, evil boy genius" (always said with air quotations and a laugh afterward) had the ghost of a Heylin witch, Wuya, who could also detect the Shen Gong Wu when it activated. Charlie had acted fascinated and a little worried about this, but inside was laughing. Of course she knew all of this. Also, it was really hilarious that her brother was made fun of on an almost daily basis at the Xiaolin Temple, and she felt no desire to hold back a defense for him.

"Yes, and a new one hasn't activated in a very long time!" Omi sounded upset, as if the only fun he ever had was tracking down each Shen Gong Wu. _Come to think of it,_ Charlie thought, _that might be true_.

"It's only been a few weeks, little buddy," Clay assured him. "Give it some time." He smiled and shoved some rice in his mouth.

Just then, Master Fung entered the dining area. "Enjoying dinner, are we young monks?" he asked. Everyone answered positively, even though they all knew Raimundo would rather shove his chopsticks in his ears than eat vegetables. "Well, excuse my interruption but I have some very important news."

The girl with the red hair stepped out from behind him meekly, holding her hands behind her back. She was dressed simply, in a grey-and-cream-striped sweater and dark blue jeans. Her white tennis shoes were scuffed and covered in grass stains. Her hair was even brighter up-close, and fell in wild curls to the middle of her back.

Master Fung placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "This is Bridget, and she will be joining Charlie in training to become a monk-in-training here at the temple."

"_Another _girl? Come _ON!_" Raimundo cried. He was instantly shut up by a barrage of carrots from both Charlie beside him and Kimiko on the other side of the table.

"Make Bridget feel at home here at the temple," Master Fung continued, barely batting an eyelash at Raimundo's outburst. "I have already shown her the sleeping area and presented her with robes to change into later."

When Master Fung had left, Bridget looked around at everyone with aquamarine eyes. "Um… hi."

"Hi!" Kimiko responded, and patted the seat beside her and across from Clay. Bridget sat down while Kimiko sped through the introductions. "I'm Kimiko, the little bald one on my other side is Omi, that's Clay across from you, Charlie is beside him (her real name is Charlotte but everyone calls her Charlie), and Raimundo is the one at the end over there hiding his vegetables in the plants."

Charlie glanced over and noticed the way Clay was gawking at Bridget. "Close your trap, cowboy," she whispered, elbowing him in the ribs.

"So Bridget, where are you from?" Clay asked, turning a little red.

"I grew up here in China but my parents were American," she responded. She was obviously a little shy, and Charlie could tell it would take some warming up before she'd really talk comfortably with everyone.

"Your hair is an incredible color!" Kimiko told her, reaching out and fingering a curl on Bridget's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's about the same color as my brother's hair," Charlie said without thinking. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, but luckily no one seemed to think anything strange about that statement. Hopefully they didn't automatically associate "guy with hair the color of a tomato" with Jack.

"Thank you." Bridget smiled, seeming to relax a little bit.

"What made you come to the temple?" Raimundo asked, shoving a carrot under the cushion he sat on.

Bridget thought about that for a minute. "I just thought it would be nice to get away, learn some new things. You know…" She trailed off, not finishing the sentence. "I got here this morning. I've been talking with Master Fung all day."

"Is your last name as amusing as Spudgyhammer?" Omi piped up.

"_Spudgenheimer!_" Charlie cried, while Raimundo fell off of his seat with laughter.

"So you're new here too?" Bridget asked Charlie, not answering Omi's question.

Charlie nodded. "Just got here two or three weeks ago. It's not too hard, and you'll warm up to the training regime pretty fast."

They finished dinner and all headed back to the dormitories to relax while Bridget tried on her robes. They were identical to Kimiko and Charlie's, though the tunic had no sleeves, and unlike Charlie she actually agreed to wear the shoes.

Before bed that night, Charlie fell onto her mat and whipped out her cell phone. As usual, there was the same text from Jack. _"Anything yet?"_

_ "Omi has a weak left ankle,"_ she tapped out on the keyboard. _"And there's a new girl. Bridget."_

_ "That's it?"_

_"Raimundo has never had cheesecake."_ With that, Charlie shut her phone off and rolled over to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

At the Spicer household, Jack yelled at his cell phone and threw it across the room. "She is so infuriating!"

Wuya came out of her hiding place in the shadows. "What now?"

"Charlie's there _two weeks_ and doesn't find anything, and when she finally talks it's just about Omi having a weak ankle and how Raimundo has never had cheesecake." Jack sat down in his computer chair and glared at his phone, which lay in pieces on the floor against the wall. "She thinks this is some sort of joke."

"You're the only joke around here, Jack," Wuya snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"You fail every attempt to take over the world that falls in your lap, so you send your incompetent sister in to do the job for you! You should have known she wouldn't be reliable!"

"How was I supposed to know she would be totally useless?!" Jack stood up, his arms spread wide.

"She's related to you, isn't she?" Wuya crossed her ghostly tentacles.

"If you're so unhappy then why don't you just _go_!" Turning his back, Jack put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. "Just get out of here!"

Wuya considered it. She had put up with Jack's shenanigans for far too long, and it was wearing on her. "Fine then. Maybe Chase Young needs some help," she muttered under her breath. With that, she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

"Go on, get out of here!" Jack turned around, expecting to see Wuya still hovering there, ready to make a comeback. But to his surprise, she was gone. "… Wuya?"

Nothing.

"She actually left." He couldn't believe it. He wandered around the basement for a minute, looking around to make sure she wasn't just hiding. He finally stopped at the table where his still-unfinished android was laying, the chest cavity open and wires hanging out. Jack leaned against the edge, thinking.

"Well… well _fine!_" Jack picked up his screwdriver and faced his work-in-progress. "If Wuya and my own sister refuse to help me, then I'll make someone who will!" He lowered his goggles and began diligently working.

* * *

It had been a week and a half since Bridget arrived at the temple, and almost the whole time was spent in training. The monks hadn't been given another day off, so their only opportunities to goof around and have fun were during supper and in the dormitory building before bed.

On this night in particular, Charlie stood in her room checking her cell phone. She hadn't heard from Jack since the night Bridget showed up, though she texted him a few times over that week telling him that she was still keeping an ear open for new information even though nothing had come up yet. Apparently the people at the temple kept a tight lid on things, even around their own allies. She thought for sure that hearing about Omi's physical weakness would make Jack happy, but apparently not. It frustrated her, and she refused to text him anything else until he texted her back first.

"Hey Charlie?" There was a tapping on the paper sliding door. Quickly, Charlie stashed the phone back in her backpack before Bridget stuck her head in. "Are you okay? You've been changing for an awfully long time."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… just trying to find a hair band to keep my hair back." _That was so lame_, she thought.

Bridget blinked. "Oh, okay. I have one if you want." Bridget always kept a couple of hair bands around her wrist, in case she ever needed to pull back her thick hair to keep it from sticking to her neck and back with sweat. Charlie tried to tell her to just cut it shoulder-length like she had her hair, but Bridget refused. "My hair turns into an afro if it's much shorter than this," she kept insisting.

"Thanks, I could use it." Charlie took the hair band that Bridget offered her and pulled her hair back in a ponytail. "I'll change and be out in a minute."

Bridget nodded and left, sliding the door closed behind her.

Charlie quickly changed into her pajamas – an electric-blue tanktop and shorts set with a panda pattern – and headed out into the main area of the dormitories. The others were all sitting in a circle on cushions, already in their pajamas, just like they had been doing the last few nights. It became almost a tradition for them, something to help them relax from the day's training and just remember that they were all teenagers and Omi.

"What did I miss?" Charlie asked, sitting down on a cushion between Bridget and Raimundo.

"I was just about to show Bridget this poem that Hiro sent me." Kimiko handed her cell phone across the circle, and Bridget took it. "You can read it too." Things between her and her friend in Tokyo were still going really well, and she was ecstatic that she got to share the news with girls for once.

"A poem?" Raimundo rolled his eyes. "How cheesy. Girls don't actually go for that stuff. Am I right, Charlie? You don't like that stuff, do you?"

"Why, did you write me one?" Charlie glanced up from the phone to stick a tongue out at him.

"You wish I did." He poked her in the arm and she just rolled her eyes.

"I fail to see how pairing rhyming words and colorful descriptions is supposed to make a girl fall in love with you," Omi commented, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "If that really works then the girl must be very gullible."

"_HEY!_" Kimiko's face turned red and steam could almost be seen coming out of her ears. Raimundo and Clay both fell over laughing, hitting their palms against the wood floor.

"I didn't mean that _you_ were gullible, Kimiko," Omi added, smiling as if he had made the situation better.

"Uh-huh." Kimiko took the phone back from Bridget and silently began texting Hiro back, sitting slightly turned away from Omi.

"What about you, Bridge, what do you think of poetry and all that junk?" Raimundo asked, sitting up on his cushion again.

Bridget shrugged, toying with the hem of her purple and white plaid shorts that peeked out from underneath her oversized white t-shirt. "I think it can be a little cheesy, but sometimes it's cute. I guess it depends on the guy giving it to me."

"So if it was Clay, what would you think?" Omi asked.

"_Omi!_" Clay turned bright red, glancing over at Bridget. He couldn't see her expression though; she had ducked her head and her hair fell in a curtain to hide her face. Whether she did it out of embarrassment or awkwardness, he couldn't tell.

"Perhaps I'll just go on to bed." Omi stood up, bowed slightly, and left the circle for his room.

The remaining five monks in training sat in silence for a few moments, before Charlie cleared her throat. "So did Hiro say anything else, Kimiko?"

Kimiko shook her head. "Not yet. I think he may have gone on to bed or something." She yawned. "I should probably do the same."

"Yeah, me too." Clay stood up and stretched. "Night, y'all."

They headed to their rooms, leaving Raimundo, Charlie, and Bridget alone.

Charlie stood up and picked her cushion up with her. "I guess we should get to sleep ourselves. We have more training in the morning, and I don't feel like catching my hair on fire on that stupid hoop again."

"Another reason why all my hair ties are beneficial," Bridget commented, snapping one of the hair bands on her wrist.

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie tossed her cushion into the corner and headed back for her bed. "Night."

"Night Charles," Raimundo responded, watching her slip into her room and slide the door shut behind her.

Bridget began gathering all of the cushions to put them back properly. She was a bit of a neat-freak, and it was something that drove the monks crazy but that they were equally grateful for; she made chore time a little easier on all of them.

"Hey Bridge, can I ask you something?" Raimundo whispered, glancing back toward the monks' rooms where the rest had just fallen asleep.

"Sure Rai, what's up?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's about girls. How do you know if they like you or not?"

Bridget piled the cushions in a stack in the corner and straightened up. "What girl are we talking about here?"

Raimundo was quiet a moment. "Nah, nothing. Nevermind."

"What?"Bridget looked at him and squinted her eyes, as if trying to read his thoughts.

He sighed like he'd been defeated. "Does… does Charlie ever talk about me?"

"You like her!" Bridget squealed, clapping her hands. "That's so cute!"

"Shhhh!" Raimundo put a finger to his lips to shush her, looking back over her shoulder at Charlie's door. When she didn't emerge wondering what on earth was going on, he felt safe enough to talk in a low voice again.

"Okay, fine, yes, I like Charlie," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. "But you can't tell her! Or anybody for that matter. No one knows except you now."

Bridget made an 'X' over her chest. "Cross my heart, I won't tell a soul."

Raimundo nodded. He knew Bridget wasn't the kind to just burst out with things out of nowhere. "I know that you two have gotten pretty close since you've been here, so I just thought maybe you'd know if she ever mentioned me."

Bridget thought back on all the conversations she'd had with Charlie since arriving at the temple and shook her head. "Sorry, Rai."

He frowned, disappointed.

"I'll keep my ears open though, I promise." She smiled at him. "If she gives any sort of hint that she likes you, I'll give you the 'okay'."

Raimundo smiled back at Bridget and clapped her on the shoulder. "Thanks Bridge. You're a good friend." With that, he headed back to his room to pass out.

The next morning, the monks were heading for training when Dojo slithered out from one of the buildings.

"Guys! A new Shen Gong Wu finally activated!" he exclaimed, holding up a tan scroll.

"Yes!" Kimiko pumped a fist into the air. "This is the first one to activate in _ages!_"

"What are we lookin' for Dojo?" Clay asked.

The little green dragon unrolled the scroll, and all of the monks crouched down to read it.

The center of the scroll displayed a glowing blue circle, where a tiny man stood holding a large staff with a glowing crescent moon on top. Underneath the circle, the name of the Shen Gong Wu was displayed: the Crescent Scepter.

"The Crescent Scepter causes temporary blindness to whoever it is pointed at." Master Fung came up behind Dojo, describing what the Scepter could do. The tiny man on the scroll acted out the powers, by aiming the Scepter at another tiny man; the Shen Gong Wu glowed, and the second tiny man began waving his hands in front of his face.

"That looks awesome!" Charlie exclaimed. "When can we leave?"

"As soon as possible!" Dojo rolled up the scroll again. "First time in a while I've had to make room for six."

"No no, Dojo, not six. Just five." Master Fung placed a hand on Bridget's shoulder. "Bridget is not yet ready to go on a Shen Gong Wu trek. I would much prefer she stay here at the temple."

"But Master Fung-!" Clay started to protest.

"Clay, it's fine. Really." Bridget smiled at him. "It'll give me a chance to work on my training without Raimundo screaming at Omi and distracting me."

"I think I'll have her work with the shuriken while the rest of you young monks are gone," Master Fung thought out loud, before turning and heading for the training area. "Come along, Bridget."

"No way! Bridget gets to use the ninja stars?!" Raimundo cried, waving his arms in Master Fung's direction. "You never let me use those!"

"That is because the last time you had them, you pinned me to the wall with them and left me there for two hours!" Omi told him.

"I'll see you guys when you get back." Bridget gave a short wave before following Master Fung.

"Come on guys, let's go." Dojo suddenly grew into a giant dragon, big enough to hold all of the monks on his back, and waited while they boarded him. "The Crescent Scepter is somewhere in Australia. Maybe we'll hit the beaches while we're there. I could go for a tan."

* * *

Dojo landed in the center of the Australian outback, letting the monks hop off of his back before shrinking down into the more portable version of himself. "So much for visiting a beach, eesh. I thought we'd be closer to the coast than this."

"It's nice to be in normal clothes for once, at least," Charlie commented, tugging on the sleeve of her blue hoodie. "First time in a month." The monks were allowed to wear their casual wear when out of the temple hunting Shen Gong Wu. They all took advantage of this except for Omi, who basically lived in his monk robes.

"Okay, Dojo, lead us to the Wu!" Kimiko put her hands on her hips and looked around the dry orange land surrounding them, with a few dry twigs sticking out of the ground here and there. Kimiko really took advantage of the casual wear rule, wearing a brown and white shirt with a flower on the chest, a bright yellow skirt with an orange scarf for a belt, knee-high brown and orange argyle socks, orange high top sneakers, and an orange backpack. She even wore a lime green wig pulled up into twin buns on either side of her head, tied with long orange scarves.

Dojo hesitated with his hand on his chin, looking around. "I think it's there." He pointed at a large flat mound, easily eight foot tall.

The monks all headed for it, scrambling up the side until they reached the top. "It's not up here Dojo!" Omi called to the dragon, who was still on the ground.

"It may be in a bush or something," Dojo called back.

The monks began searching through all of the dry bushes, looking for something that resembled the Crescent Scepter from the scroll.

"I think I found it!" Charlie pointed at a black pole sticking out of the ground, hidden in one of the bushes. "Half of it's buried though!"

"Can you dig it out or something?" Raimundo asked, rushing over with the others to where Charlie was.

"I don't know. The ground's pretty hard." Charlie slapped it with her hand as if to make a point.

Suddenly they all heard the sound of propellers behind them, followed by laughter. They turned to see Jack Spicer rising up from the other side of the mound, using the jetpack he constantly wore to let him hover above the ground.

"Greetings, Xiaolin losers!" He waved at them, smiling evilly. "Thanks for finding my Wu for me! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get that out and take it home."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Charlie cried, getting ready to attack her brother if she needed to.

"Who's this?" Jack scoffed, looking at Charlie. "Is this another Xiaolin moron?"

Charlie blinked at Jack, wondering what he was talking about. He knew who she was. Then she remembered that she was incognito, and that Jack wasn't supposed to know who she was.

"The name's Charlie, and I'm your worst nightmare Jack Spicer!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "What a lame line! C'mon, can't you come up with something better than that?"

"How's this for 'better'?" Charlie ran over to where Jack hovered and jumped into the air, ready to kick him. Years of pent-up childhood anger at her big brother and her recent frustration at him for ignoring her the past couple of weeks made it easy to do it without feeling the slightest bit of guilt.

Before her foot made contact with Jack's chest, however, a hand reached up and grabbed her leg, halting her in the air. Her upper body went limp, and she ended up hanging upside down while whoever's hand held her leg up in the air.

Charlie kicked and struggled. "What's going on? _Put me down this instant!"_ She was dropped onto the mound, landing on her face. Moaning, she pushed herself up with her hands and looked up at the person who had stopped her from beating up Jack.

A girl hovered in the air in front of Jack using the same jetpack that he had, decked out in gold and black metal armor. A crimson scarf attached to the front of her belt fluttered around her legs, which ended at black shoes laced up to her knees. Her long brown hair danced behind her in the breeze created by her jetpack propellers, almost as perfectly as in a commercial. She stared at the monks with piercing neon green eyes that seemed to glow.

Wait a minute… they actually _were_ glowing!

"Who _is_ that?" Raimundo cried, pointing at the girl.

"I'd like to introduce you to Zella." Jack gestured to her, like a gameshow host showing off a prize. "She was created with the latest and greatest computer programming available, and the most high-tech armor, making her nearly invincible."

_Computer programming?_ Charlie thought, and then she remembered the inactive robot laying on Jack's worktable. "You mean she's -."

Jack grinned and nodded. "An android."


End file.
